We Rise And We Fall And We Break
by WinterSky101
Summary: Padmé is the strongest person Obi-Wan knows, and there's no way she would just give up. If she's dying, someone is killing her, and Obi-Wan is not going to let that happen. RotS AU.


**Title comes from "Wait For It" from the Hamilton soundtrack.**

* * *

Padmé looked pale and small in the white gown, lying still on the table in the middle of the medical center. Obi-Wan's adrenaline was fading away, making it more and more difficult to stay upright, but he wouldn't leave, not when Padmé was so close to giving birth. He would stay to watch the children be born, and then, Force willing, he would go into another room and sleep for as long as he possibly could. Perhaps a trip to the fresher and some sleep would ease the shadow of Mustafar.

A medical droid floated up to the door, coming out to report on Padmé's state. Obi-Wan stood next to Bail to listen. Whatever the medical droid said, there was nothing that could make things worse.

"Medically, she's completely healthy," the droid explained. "For reasons we can't explain, we are losing her."

Obi-Wan was wrong. This made everything so much worse.

"She's dying?" Obi-Wan demanded. No, this couldn't happen, not after everything. There could not be more death after all the death that had already happened.

"We don't know why. She has lost the will to live. We need to operate quickly if we are to save the babies."

"Babies?" Bail repeated.

The droid made a motion that almost looked like a nod. "She's carrying twins."

Obi-Wan had known this already, had been able to feel the bright lights of the unborn babies in the Force. They would be as powerful as their father someday. He stepped up to the window, reaching out with the Force. Padmé was only slightly Force-sensitive, but she still resonated with the Force, as all living things did. The medical droid was right. Her life force was dimming. She was dying.

Far away, Anakin's life force was wavering, barely holding on to life. Obi-Wan wished he would give in to death. He had left a broken man on the shores of Mustafar. It would be better for everyone, Anakin included, if that were the end.

"You should go to her," Bail told Obi-Wan, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Be with her. Try to help her find the will to live again."

"You should go," Obi-Wan countered. "You're her friend."

"You understand what she's going through better than I do," Bail replied. He squeezed Obi-Wan's shoulder gently. "Go in there with her. Please, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan looked over to Yoda, then stepped forward. The doors slid open soundlessly and he stepped through them, ignoring the droids and the scans and heading straight for Padmé.

"Obi-Wan," she whispered as she looked at him. "Obi-Wan, the droid said I was going to have twins."

"I can feel them in the Force," Obi-Wan replied, taking Padmé's hand. "They shine like the sun, Padmé."

"Anakin and I never agreed on names," Padmé whispered. "We didn't have a chance to pick any."

"What were your favorites?" Obi-Wan asked softly.

"I wanted the baby to have a Naboo name," Padmé admitted. "I asked Anakin if he wanted the baby to have a name from Tatooine, but he didn't."

"It's your choice. What do you think?"

"I don't- Oh!" Padmé cried out. One of the droids placed some sort of contraption over Padmé's lower body. Obi-Wan assumed it was to help with delivery, but he freely admitted that he knew practically nothing when it came to childbirth.

"Her contractions are regular and frequent," the medical droid told Obi-Wan. "She will give birth to the children soon."

"Obi-Wan," Padmé gasped, taking his hand and gripping it tightly. "Obi-Wan, I can't do this."

"Yes, you can," Obi-Wan assured Padmé gently. "It'll be alright, Padmé."

"Nothing in the galaxy is alright!" Padmé cried. "How can I bring children into a galaxy like this?"

"We'll keep them safe," Obi-Wan promised. Padmé cried out, gripping his fingers so tightly they felt as if they were being crushed. "Padmé, we will all do whatever it takes to keep your children safe. We won't let Palpatine win."

"We won't let Palpatine win," Padmé repeated softly, then she cried out in pain.

"Ooh-bah," one of the medical droids told her soothingly, standing by her feet. "Ooh-bah."

Padmé released Obi-Wan's hand, gripping the sides of the bed instead. Obi-Wan leaned forward, wishing he could take her pain away. If they had been doing this on Coruscant, with better medical technology, the birth would be practically painless. But Polis Massa didn't have a technically advanced medical center. They were lucky the droids could help at all.

Padmé let out a sob. "Ee-see-tah oy-doh," the droid told her, holding out a small baby boy and swaddling him.

"Luke," Padmé whispered as Obi-Wan took the boy in his arms. He held the baby out to Padmé and she tenderly stroked his cheek. "Oh, Luke."

"Ooh-bah, ooh-bah," the droid told Padmé as she cried out again. She sobbed in pain as Obi-Wan held her son, helpless to do anything to help.

"Ee-see-tah oy-dah," the droid told Padmé, holding up the second baby.

"It's a girl," Obi-Wan translated softly.

"Leia," Padmé whispered. She looked worn out, but there was a hint of happiness on her face as she looked at her two children. "Luke and Leia."

"They're beautiful names," Obi-Wan complimented.

"Anakin didn't like the name Luke," Padmé admitted. "But it was one of my favorites. And Leia is a common Naboo name. I want my daughter to have a Naboo name."

"They are beautiful names for beautiful children," Obi-Wan told her. Now that the babies had been born, their light in the Force had only brightened. After the darkness of Mustafar, the purity of the children seemed all the more bright.

Padmé let out a sigh. Obi-Wan looked up at the medical readings. Her vital signs were dropping, but the scans still detected nothing wrong. It was, as the droid had said, as if she had lost the will to live.

But that was wrong. Padmé was the strongest person Obi-Wan had ever met, far stronger than he was himself. If he could still push his way through, so could she. Padmé would never give up like this, he knew it.

Perhaps the shadows of darkness under her skin weren't echoes from Anakin after all.

"Take the child," Obi-Wan told a droid, which obediently took Luke from his arms and cradled him. Obi-Wan moved to the head of Padmé's bed and gently placed his fingers on her temples. Then he closed his eyes and cast himself into the Force, looking for a sign - any sign - of a way to save Padmé.

And then he found it.

It was hidden deep in her being, impossible to find unless you were looking for it, but it was there. Something - Obi-Wan had a sick suspicion that he knew what - was siphoning away Padmé's life force, draining her until there was nothing left. She hadn't lost the will to live. Someone was killing her.

Obi-Wan concentrated with all his might on protecting Padmé from whoever was trying to kill her, but whoever it was - it was Palpatine, he knew it had to be Palpatine - was strong. Obi-Wan would have to shatter the connection, then shield Padmé so it couldn't reform. He didn't know how this was even possible with Palpatine so far away, but that seemed unimportant in the face of stopping it.

Despite the distance, Palpatine's grip was strong. It took several tries and all of Obi-Wan's might to break the connection. A wave of fury that wasn't his washed over him for an instant, and then it was gone. Palpatine's presence was gone.

"Her vital signs are rising," one of the droids said, sounding confused.

"She's going to live?" Bail asked. He sounded very close. Obi-Wan wondered how he'd missed him coming in.

"If she remains steady, then she will," the droid replied.

Bail said something else that Obi-Wan thought was directed to him, but it was drowned out by a rush of power surging at him. The energy was dark and cloying, covering the shields Obi-Wan had set in place around Padmé's life force. Obi-Wan felt his energy drain as the darkness tried to seep through his shields, but he couldn't give up. He would not allow it.

Finally, after what felt like hours, the darkness receded. Somehow, Obi-Wan knew it would not return. "Her vital signs have returned to normal," the medical droid stated. It sounded as if it were very far away.

"Obi-Wan?" The voice was accompanied by a hand on his shoulder. Obi-Wan forced his eyes open and found Bail was looking at him with concern on his face. "Obi-Wan, are you alright?"

Unconsciousness swept over him, and the last thing Obi-Wan felt was Bail grabbing him before he hit the floor.

* * *

When Obi-Wan opened his eyes, Yoda was sitting in a chair next to his bed. This was not the first time that had occurred, and Obi-Wan doubted this time would go better than any of the other times it had. In fact, he had the distinct feeling that he was about to get a lecture. Strangely, he found he didn't care. Master Yoda's lectures were notorious for being damning and sharp and Obi-Wan didn't care a single bit.

"Awake, you are, Master Kenobi?" Yoda asked.

Obi-Wan pushed himself upright. He felt as if he had strained every muscle in his body. "Is Padmé alright?"

"Sleeping, she is," Yoda replied. "Explain to me what happened, you will."

"Palpatine was siphoning away Padmé's life force," Obi-Wan explained. "It would have been untraceable once she was dead. That was why her vital signs were dropping, not because she had given up."

"Hmm." Yoda's disapproving hum had once been the bane of all Jedi, but Obi-Wan was the only one left and it didn't disturb him at all. The Jedi Order was destroyed, Anakin had Fallen to the Sith, and the Supreme Chancellor had destroyed the Republic. In the grand scheme of things, disappointing Yoda seemed rather unimportant.

"An attachment to the senator, it sounds like you have," Yoda finally stated. "Careful, you must be. Send your Padawan to the Dark Side, his attachment did."

"Master, you can't be serious," Obi-Wan protested. "Anakin's attachments didn't send him to the Dark Side! It was the fact that we _kept_ him from having attachments that pushed him over!"

"Explain, you will," Yoda declared, sounding carefully neutral. A year ago - a week ago - Obi-Wan would never have gone against Yoda like that. But a week ago, the Jedi had not all been slaughtered and Anakin had not been lost to a fate worse than death. Obi-Wan's priorities had changed.

"Anakin thought that Padmé was in danger, like his mother," Obi-Wan began. "He thought that turning to the Sith would save her."

"His attachment-" Yoda began.

Obi-Wan interrupted him without a thought. "Because we banned attachment, Anakin could not speak to us about his worries. Because-" The words stuck in Obi-Wan's throat, but he spoke them anyway. "Because I dismissed his worries about his mother, he did not think that we would help him when he was worried about Padmé. Who do you think gave him the idea that the power of the Dark Side could save Padmé? We made him feel as if Palpatine was the only person he could speak to. If Anakin had been able to speak with us about his fears for Padmé, we could have helped him. If he were allowed to make attachments to others, he would not have become so close to Palpatine. His Fall is our fault, Master. The Order failed him." _I failed him._

"A weakness for attachments, you always had," Yoda sighed.

Obi-Wan felt as if he were going to scream. "Attachments are not a weakness!" His voice was barely controlled, just on the brink of shouting. "I have an attachment to Padmé. I have- I had an attachment to Anakin. I was attached to Qui-Gon, I was attached to Satine, I was attached to Ahsoka, I was attached to Siri, I was attached to Bant and Quinlan and Garen and Tahl and my other friends at the Temple. It is only natural to form such attachments, Master, and the Code never should have banned them."

Yoda's disappointment was cool and sharp in the Force. Obi-Wan stood and stalked out of the room, leaving him behind. He was right. He knew he was right.

 _Oh, Anakin, if only I had figured this out earlier, when I could have helped you._

Anakin's Force signature was warped, but Obi-Wan could still feel it, stubbornly holding on to life. He wondered if it was because he was the Chosen One. He had yet to bring balance to the Force, so perhaps the Force would not let him die before his destiny was fulfilled. Obi-Wan wished it would just let him go. The thought of killing Anakin had been horrible, but the thought that he was still alive, maimed and burned and consumed by hatred, was somehow even worse.

"Obi-Wan!" Bail turned a corner and immediately walked to Obi-Wan, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You look horrible, my friend. Come with me. We're nearing Naboo right now."

"Naboo?" Obi-Wan repeated. "Why would we go to Naboo? If we're trying to remain inconspicuous, I would think that would be the worst place to go."

"Master Yoda has a plan," Bail replied, sounding somewhat helpless. "He's rather insistent. I'm sure you know how he can be better than I do."

"I do," Obi-Wan murmured. "Where are Padmé and the children?"

"Padmé is sleeping in the medical center," Bail replied. "The droids wanted to keep an eye on her, even though whatever you did seemed to heal whatever was wrong with her. And the twins are there too. They're a bit premature, so they should stay there for now."

"But they're all alright?" Obi-Wan insisted. He could feel them all in the Force and they _felt_ alright, but he had been wrong too many times in his life to not feel the need for confirmation.

"They're alright." Bail squeezed Obi-Wan's shoulder gently. "Whatever you did, it saved her."

"She hadn't lost the will to live," Obi-Wan explained. "It was Palpatine. He was killing her. I managed to fight him off, but he'll know she survived."

Bail's face was grave. "At least she's alive."

Obi-Wan shivered as he remembered how weak Padmé's life force had been when he first dove into it. She had survived, but Palpatine had come very close to making sure that was not the case.

"Let me get you something to eat," Bail offered. "And I might be able to find a change of clothes, although..." It was Bail's ship, and Obi-Wan highly doubted any of Bail's clothing would fit him. He could almost ignore the smell of singed fabric and burning flesh that still stuck to his clothes, so he would continue to wear them until he could get clothes that wouldn't be comically large on him.

"Just food would be lovely," Obi-Wan replied, following Bail into a small kitchen.

"They're all just meal packs, I'm afraid, but at least there's some variety," Bail told Obi-Wan, pulling out a few meal packs. "I'd suggest you stay away from anything with nerf meat. It doesn't reheat well."

"Thank you," Obi-Wan murmured, grabbing one of the meal packs mostly at random. Whatever it was, he was fairly certain he wouldn't taste anything at all.

"I'm sorry about Anakin," Bail said softly. Obi-Wan prepared his meal pack with wooden motions. "And I'm sorry I couldn't see what Palpatine was."

"You couldn't have known," Obi-Wan replied. His voice sounded rough. "Even the Council didn't know. In matters of the Sith, the responsibility is ours."

"But in matters of politics, the responsibility lies with the Senate," Bail countered. "I had my fears about Chancellor Palpatine. I didn't think he was a Sith, but I worried about corruption. Padmé and I created a committee to address it. But we could have done more, and perhaps if we had, things would have ended differently."

"You can't blame yourself," Obi-Wan told Bail, feeling abruptly exhausted. He toyed with the food in front of him, his appetite waning.

"Then neither can you," Bail replied. "Stars, Obi-Wan, you weren't even in the same _system_ when Palpatine revealed what he truly is."

"I should have kept Anakin away from him," Obi-Wan murmured. "I should have told him I knew about him and Padmé. I should have been there for him, so he wouldn't-" A wave of nausea flooded over Obi-Wan as he remembered the security recording of Anakin and the _younglings_ -

"You did everything you could," Bail told Obi-Wan quietly, placing a grounding hand on his shoulder. "This isn't your fault, Obi-Wan."

"I should have finished him on Mustafar," Obi-Wan muttered, hating the words and hating even more that he meant them.

Bail looked at him in shock. "You mean he's not dead?"

"He's alive," Obi-Wan replied, sighing heavily. "I thought he was going to die. I cut off his arm and his legs and he burned in the lava, but I can still feel him in the Force. He's alive."

"That makes things difficult," Bail muttered. "Do you have any idea how he survived?"

"I assume the Emperor was involved," Obi-Wan replied. He pushed the food around with his fork, the sudden smell of burning making him feel like he would be sick. Nothing was burning, he knew that, but the scent lingered.

"You need to eat, Obi-Wan," Bail told him quietly.

Obi-Wan looked down at the meal pack and raised a forkful to his mouth. It tasted like ashes. "How long until we reach Naboo?" he asked, forcing himself to take another bite of the food. Bail was right, he needed to eat. A Jedi could get along without food for a while, using the Force as nourishment, but only if they didn't exert themselves too much. Obi-Wan had fought Grievous and then his own troops on Utapau, fought Anakin on Mustafar, and then fought Palpatine out of Padmé's head. The Force alone could only sustain a Jedi so much, and Obi-Wan had passed that limit a long time ago.

"Less than an hour," Bail replied. "Do you have any idea why Yoda wants to go there?"

"None at all," Obi-Wan replied.

Bail let out a frustrated huff. "I don't mean to question Master Yoda, but this doesn't seem like the safest place to go. Far from it, actually. Naboo would be the first place Palpatine would look for Padmé. It's one of the worst hiding places in the galaxy."

"Perhaps that's part of Master Yoda's plan," Obi-Wan replied, stroking his beard in thought. "Palpatine will expect us to use the exact logic you just did. Perhaps Yoda is directing us there exactly because it's the worst place to go. Palpatine won't expect us to make such a foolish move."

"Perhaps," Bail sighed. Obi-Wan forced himself to finish his meal pack, swallowing the last bite with difficulty. If they were going into hiding, food might be difficult to procure, but that didn't change the fact that every bite seemed to stick in Obi-Wan's throat.

He would feel better once Padmé was awake. He could feel her in the Force, as bright as always, but he knew he wouldn't be convinced that she was alright until he saw her with his own eyes. Anakin had choked her nearly to death on Mustafar, and Palpatine had come so close to draining her life force entirely. Obi-Wan needed to see that she was alright. Bail could take him, he was certain, but Padmé was sleeping and Obi-Wan wouldn't wake her, not after everything. He wouldn't take any escape from her.

"Senator Organa." Both Bail and Obi-Wan looked up at the sound. Yoda stood in the doorway, leaning on his gimer stick. "Master Kenobi. Discuss our plans, we must." Without another word, Yoda turned and walked off, apparently expecting Obi-Wan and Bail to follow him. They did, Obi-Wan throwing the empty meal pack into the garbage chute on his way out.

Yoda went to what Obi-Wan assumed was a conference room and sat at the head of the table. Obi-Wan sat on his left while Bail sat on the right. The table was big enough to seat at least a dozen people; it seemed empty with just the three of them.

"Hidden, safe, the children must be kept," Yoda declared.

Obi-Wan frowned, noticing that Padmé was not included in that assessment. "We must take them somewhere where the Sith will not sense their presence," he replied. Palpatine and Anakin could never know of the twins' existence. If they did, they would never stop being hunted for as long as they lived.

"Hmm." Yoda looked thoughtful. "Split up, they should be."

"Master-" Obi-Wan began to protest, but another voice cut him off.

"You will do no such thing to my children, not so long as I am alive."

Padmé's hair was loose, falling in soft curls around her shoulders. She was wearing the same outfit she'd worn on Mustafar, the front of it falling awkwardly over her no-longer-rounded stomach. Bags were heavy under her eyes, and her skin was paler than it should have been. Regardless, Obi-Wan didn't think she'd ever looked more determined than she did in that moment.

"Padmé," Obi-Wan whispered. There was a wealth of things he wanted to say, but he couldn't find the words to say them.

Padmé looked over at Obi-Wan and faltered slightly, then she looked back at Yoda with her head held high. "Why did you meet to discuss the fate of my children without me?" she asked, her voice like ice.

"Asleep, you were," Yoda replied. "Make decisions quickly, we must."

"Padmé has every right to be part of the discussion about her children," Bail defended immediately.

"Master Yoda, they are her children. She has more right than any of us," Obi-Wan said quietly.

"You thought to separate them from me without even telling me?" Padmé asked coldly, sitting next to Bail. "I have never believed the Jedi to be cruel, but perhaps I was wrong."

"A plan, I have," Yoda stated. "Return to Naboo, you will, Senator Amidala. Pretend you lost the children, you will. And hide them from the Sith, we will."

"You will do no such thing," Padmé repeated furiously.

"Master, what of Padmé?" Obi-Wan asked. "She will be in danger if she returns to Naboo. Palpatine has already tried to kill her."

"What?" Padmé cried, looking at Obi-Wan with wide eyes.

"Palpatine meant to make it seem as if you died in childbirth," Obi-Wan explained. "He was stopped."

"Obi-Wan saved you," Bail told Padmé. She looked at Obi-Wan, her expression inscrutable. Obi-Wan wondered what she was thinking. She had her emotionless Senate mask on, and Obi-Wan could never read her when she was wearing that.

"Allow Senator Amidala to be killed, Skywalker will not," Yoda replied, slamming his gimer stick onto the floor. "Wasting time, we are. A plan, we must make."

"My children stay with me," Padmé demanded. "Fake my death, if you wish, or come up with some other idea to keep Palpatine from coming after us, but you will not take my children away from me."

"If we mask Padmé with the Force, it will appear to Palpatine and" - the name stuck in Obi-Wan's throat, but he forced it out - "Anakin that she is dead. I'm certain we can find a body that looks enough like Padmé to be passed off as her, and we can make the body appear to be pregnant. To the galaxy, it will appear that Padmé died before the children were born, and the Sith will not be able to track her."

"Will it be safer for my children if I fake my death?" Padmé asked, looking directly at Obi-Wan. He abruptly got the feeling that, as well as he may have been able to sense feelings with the Force, Padmé was better at reading people than any Jedi. If he lied, he was certain she would know.

"It will be," he replied, glad that it was the honest answer.

Padmé nodded once. "Then let's do it."

* * *

They watched the holofeed of Padmé's funeral on their way to Alderaan. Obi-Wan wasn't sure whose body was there in her place, but it looked remarkably like her.

"What happened on Mustafar?" Padmé asked as the galaxy mourned her death.

"I fought Anakin," Obi-Wan replied. "I defeated him, but…" He clenches his fists and buries his nails into his palms. "I didn't kill him. I thought… But he survived."

"We need to stop him," Padmé said. "Him and Palpatine."

Obi-Wan looked sideways at Padmé. "You don't have to. You could live comfortably on Alderaan. I imagine the life of a royal nurse is-"

"I need to put a stop to this," Padmé said firmly. "This is my fault. Anakin only did this because of me."

"That's not your fault."

Padmé looked Obi-Wan, fire in her eyes. "He's my husband, and I'm going to stop him."

Obi-Wan looked at Padmé. Bail had offered him a position in the royal household when he offered to take in the babies and give Padmé a place as their nurse, but he didn't think he could live a comfortable life like that when there was still evil to be defeated in the galaxy. Given the look on Padmé's face, she felt the same way.

"May I join you?" Obi-Wan asked. "Anakin is your husband, but he was my brother, and I was blind to the signs of his fall. I owe it to the galaxy to stop him."

Padmé looked at Obi-Wan, then held out her hand. "Together, then."

Obi-Wan shook her hand. "Together."

Padmé's lips twitched into the smallest of smiles. "The Emperor won't stand a chance."


End file.
